


Pins and Needles

by mpmwrites



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Probably ooc, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 15:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15585048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mpmwrites/pseuds/mpmwrites
Summary: "Captain Fowler suggested I take the rest of the day off. I thought you might appreciate some company.""Company? Yes. You? No."Gavin gets shot, and RK900 is the only company he has in the hospital.





	Pins and Needles

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this got quite long, and is not the whole story! My first time writing this ship, first time writing slow burn(?), so please be gentle. It's prob quite OOC and not nearly enough UST. I intend to write at least two more chapters, but don't hold me to that. Also, I know nothing about medical care or gunshot wounds, but I did my best. I hope you enjoy and please comment!

Three shots were fired. Only one had hit him. The other two, he'd been told, hit the witness in the wrist and the calf; perfectly aimed to not cause any long term damage and neutralize the situation as quickly as possible. He wasn't so lucky, and the invisible tingling in his fingers constantly reminded him so.

"How long do I have to be here?" He fumed, curling his right hand into a fist and then releasing it quickly to soothe the discomfort. It didn't help.

"The bullet removal went well, provided no complications you'll be under observation for another fifteen hours, give or take." RK900 explained, watching as Reed watched his right hand open and close over and over again impatiently. The human's arm was held in a white fabric sling around his neck and bound against his chest by a white fabric bandage to keep his shoulder form moving and causing further damage. His forearm flexed and released with the motion. "Is your hand--"

"I don't want to talk about it." Gavin grumped, looking past the android out the window.  He scowled at the near twilight. _You had significant nerve damage, but it's not irreparable._

"Your Brachial Plexus suffered some nerve rupturing; more specifically your Ulnar nerve. With rest and moderate physical therapy, recovery rates are approximately 72%." The top of the line android made a feeble attempt to comfort his partner.

"I _didn't ask you_ , R!" He raised his voice, just short of yelling. "The fuck are you doing here, anyway?"

"Captain Fowler suggested I take the rest of the day off. I thought you might appreciate some company."

"Company? Yes. You? No."

"Well, my apologies for being the one to tell you, but nobody else has come to visit you." Gavin rolled his eyes at the comment, but wasn't about to soften enough to thank RK for trying. His eyes shifted from the view outside to the android. RK didn't sit as stiffly as Connor; he had one booted ankle tucked under the other knee while his chin was propped on his fist from the arm of the chair. In the nearly three months they'd been partners, Gavin hadn't before seen the other dressed so casually in a black tee and dark denim jeans; he wondered if he'd been rubbing off on the taller male. With the sunset behind him, RK looked like something out of a cheesy rom-com.

"Did you find anything out?" Gavin tried out a peace-offering. He _was_ trying. He never asked for a partner, but if he hadn't had a partner with him that morning, it was possible he wouldn't even be alive right now. Fowler had insisted that he was the one paired with RK because 'despite your attitude, you're one hell of a detective'.

"Detective Reed, did you expect me to question the witness while you were both bleeding out in the foyer of his home?" RK's tone was cool, but Gavin could spot the infinitesimal twitch of his mouth into a smirk.  With his unbound arm, he rubbed at where the edge of the bandage was chafing his neck. He waited patiently, not willing to give R the satisfaction of riling him up. "Did you learn anything from the interaction?" RK probed. He knew something, and clearly expected Gavin to have noticed too. It was probably obvious, but he had been too busy getting shot.

"Apparently, witness questionings require Kevlar." Gavin rolled his eyes, then flickered them to his shoulder and back.

"Incorrect. Even if you had been wearing a Kevlar vest, you still would have been hit, assuming you were shot the exact same way." He shifted slightly, his hands arms crossing over his chest. "The witness we went to see, Carter Evans, was only a coworker and friend of the suspect android. Prior to today he hadn't been contacted involving the case. It is likely he didn't even know about the disappearance of the android prior to yesterday when he didn't see her at work. Evans has no criminal record, and we're told he's a respectable individual. Why, then, was he uncooperative when we came to his house? Why was he already waiting to open fire once he opened the door?" RK insisted.

Gavin didn't want to reason. He wanted his hand to stop shaking. He wanted a decent cup of coffee, he wanted to get out of this room. With his free arm he pulled away the sanitary hospital blanket, "If you already know, why are you questioning _me_ now?" He swung his legs over the side of the bed. Someone must have brought him clothes, because he was wearing his own gray striped lounge pants below the black a-tank that contrasted against his bandages. He stood, barefoot, and attempted to stretch his back for relief from the ache the bed had caused.

"Because I've been your partner long enough to know that you are more than capable of drawing the same conclusions I did." RK watched the smaller detective carefully. He should warn his partner against straining himself, but dismissed the idea as a wasted effort before he even made an attempt. Gavin twisted at the waist before he began to walk himself around the room lazily.

"We knocked and he didn't answer the first time." Reed nodded, watching his feet traverse the linoleum, "So I knocked again and he came to the door. No loud noises, didn't sound like he was running. He was calm." He paused, nodding slightly as he worked though the events from six hours prior. "We didn't hear footsteps, and the floor was hard wood, so he must have come from the stairs, they were carpeted."

"I would agree with that." RK nodded, his LED flashing to yellow briefly, "Though I find it to be irrelevant. You're stumbling over this." He sounded annoyed, maybe disappointed. "Evans was the registered owner of the gun. He was upstairs but had the gun loaded and was ready to open fire before he opened the door. He knew the android was missing, and he knew we were both with the DPD. He opened fire on two armed officers--"

"Without provocation?" Gavin stopped his circuit of the room, "Why did he shoot? He opened the door to let us in, instead of refusing. If he'd refused, we would have come back with a warrant." He met the android's eyes, "He didn't want us there, and didn't want us to come back. He was hiding something." He frowned as he reasoned and reached up to claw at his bandages again, pushing them away from his neck roughly and then reaching for the knot at the back of his neck. Suddenly RK was in front of him, firmly grabbing his wrist and holding it between them. Gavin tried to tug his arm away but found no give to the android's hold, and in any other situation the show of force would have left him a little breathless. He flexed his right hand as he met RK's gaze.

"I will not let you cause further injury to your shoulder. Your best chances of recovery--"

"Gavin K. Reed, you're cleared to medicate." An android nurse walked into the room, all smiles and confident strides as he balanced a small tan tray. Gavin broke away from RK and sat back down on the side of the bed. "I have here an antibiotic for your recovery and something for your pain. You can take…" Gavin shut out the nurse's medication advisories and dosage directions and stared at his partner. He hovered where Gavin had left him, but upticked the corner of his mouth at the human's gaze. The exchange briefly reminded Gavin of his sister's 4-year old son, who smiled with his whole face whenever he saw Gavin. No, he wasn't a kid person, but he'd kill for that little asshole, and to be greeted like he was the greatest person in the world, well, who wouldn't like that? "Do you have any questions?" The nurse concluded, and Gavin turned back to him.

"Can these fucking bandages come off?" He fumed, and RK raised an eyebrow at the profanity. Gavin rolled his eyes, knowing the look was in reference to the "manners" RK was constantly reminding him of, like he was a child.

"Your surgery was two hours ago; in about an hour I'll come back to check the healing. If all looks well, you'll be switched to a sling that you'll have to wear for the duration of your healing." Gavin blinked at the navy-scrubbed male in front of him, wondering if he was deviant or not. "In the mean time, I can rearrange the bandages slightly to relieve some discomfort." The nurse didn't delay before he reached to the detectives shoulder, his fingers slightly cooler than a humans as he folded over the bandage near Gavin's neck. He tilted his head to the side exaggeratedly to accommodate the care, and or a long moment the only sound in the room was his breathing and the sound of the air conditioner.

The quiet remained until the nurse left and RK stepped over to stand in front of Gavin. The human didn't stand, but leaned back on his uninjured arm to look up at the android casually, "What was Evans hiding?" RK entreated. Gavin sighed and averted his gaze.

"There's no fucking way to know. Not unless we go back and search his house." He swayed in a way that was supposed to be a shrug, but with one arm immobilized and the other supporting him, it looked nothing of the sort. Then, he froze, "He was hiding the fucking android!" He yelped, astonished.

"Obviously." RK sighed, mildly annoyed with how long it had taken his partner to reach the conclusion, but also amused by his exclamation. Gavin offered up a prideful smirk that made the android come closer to a full smile than he'd like to express.

"So we show up for questioning and he thinks we already know. He thinks he's a suspect for the droid-napping, so he figures of he defends himself, we're the only ones who really know it's him." Gavin made to sit back up in his excitement, but the movement was a struggle without his other arm to push away from the bed. Just as he began to lose his balance, RK lurched forward and grabbed his uninjured bicep, pulling the human close to prevent the fall. For a moment, while RK straightened himself, they were unbearably close, but it ended before either could process the proximity. "Uhm…" Gavin swallowed, refocusing,  "What did he think was going to happen when the cops came to arrest him for assault?" He continued, not looking at his partner, and certainly not thinking about the way his synthetic muscles flexed in that tee. _Damn_ he needed to get laid.

"I believe that by the time additional enforcement arrived, his goal would have been accomplished; the android would have time to hide or escape." A raised eyebrow preceded the sound of the door opening once again.

"Giving you a partner was supposed to keep you out of trouble." Captain Fowler said by way of greeting. He was accompanied by Chen, still in uniform. RK stepped to the side for the two men to shake hands before Chen gave Reed a careful hug.

"You're the one that assigned the case." Gavin grumped, but seemed pleased to see the other officers, and especially pleased to receive the cup of coffee Chen presented him with.

"Well, it's being dismissed anyway." Fowler shrugged, "You're gonna take the rest of the week off for recovery." Gavin nearly spit out his coffee. Nearly.

"'Scuse the fuck outta me?" He looked offended, "That's not fucking happening. I got _shot_ for this case, and you're not only taking it away from me, but you're treating me like a damned invalid?"

"Calm the hell down, I'm not taking the case away from you. It's no longer classified as a kidnapping, but a recovered missing persons report." Fowler assured him. Reed snapped his head over to look at RK.

"Fuck you too." He seethed at the android. Fowler raised an eyebrow at the exchange but didn't comment on it.

"And you're right, you did _just get shot_ , so I'm telling you to take some time to recover and come back next week."

"That's not fucking happening. I'll be a psychopath by Monday, sitting around doing jack shit." Fowler frowned at the detective,

"Take a vacation, Reed. You're salary, you're still getting paid. Hell if I care, it's not like you attitude can get any worse." The older man shrugged. "Anyway, Central office sends their well wishes. We don't need to debrief you because he's got the whole situation recorded, so try to _relax_ , we'll see you in a few days." Fowler concluded as he headed out. Tina offered a complacent smile and a quiet 'get well soon' before she followed their boss out.

Reed returned to his stressed pacing, fuming around sips of coffee, "Fuck this. Haven't missed a day in two years. The fuck am I supposed to do for five days--"

"Detective Reed, most humans would consider a week off to be a good thing." In his anger, Gavin had nearly forgotten about the android's presence, he shot RK a heated glare. "Though I suppose I should have concluded by now that you are not 'most humans'." If the comment meant any more than just those words, it didn't show. He didn't move from his place at the foot of the hospital bed, but did turn to watch the human's path around the room. Over the next few minutes, the coffee seemed to soothe Gavin, the tension that radiated off him dissipating. He was at least ten feet away from the wastebasket when he tossed the paper cup toward it. He missed. He had no intention of picking it up, and RK waited a minute before he went over and picked it up himself. "Would you like another?" he tried. It stood to reason that if one cup had placated him so easily, that one more couldn't do any more harm than good.

"The android ran away to be with Evans." Gavin frowned, "Guess her family wasn't happy when she woke up and decided she wasn't their fucking maid anymore." He moved to the bed, still restless, and sat cross-legged. "I don't need you to bring me coffee. You're my partner, not my assistant." He didn't meet the android's eyes. RK may have been even more arrogant than himself, and incredibly antagonistic, but Reed knew that without a minimal effort, he'd lose the only other officer he found the least bit tolerable as a partner.

That, and if he pissed RK off enough to make him quit, Fowler would have his head.

And maybe he didn't want to be stuck alone in that hospital room.

RK appraised him, but chose not to comment on Reed's sudden righteousness toward android feelings. An improvement was an improvement, and the kindness was faintly endearing. He watched as the human pinched the pad of each of his right fingers, frowning. His left arm flexed as he put his strength into the touch, and the skin on his fingers blanched before returning to pink, but he didn't react at all. "Can you not feel anything?" RK asked, attempting to fill the silence and distract Reed. _There may be some loss of sensation or control in your hand and lower arm. It should improve with time, and we'll do an evaluation with a physical therapist before you're discharged._

"Not a fuckin' thing." Gavin muttered, turning his gaze away from his hands. It infuriated him that his hand was held in front of him so he had little choice but to keep looking at it. After a moment he realized that there was something he could do about that, and grabbed at the knot of the bandage.

"Detective, _stop_." RK warned, but Gavin ignored him and easily pulled the knot loose. The bandage drooped and he reached around his back to untie the second bandage. He was pulling both bandages away from his body before RK was close enough to stop him. He sighed with relief and rubbed the back of his neck gratuitously, and the android recovered both bandages, frowning. Gavin heard the movement and stared at his partner incredulously.

"You're not my doctor." Gavin deflected before the other could speak. He looked to the square bandage taped to his shoulder and fought the urge to pull it off too, not knowing if he'd start bleeding if he did. He flexed his fingers, and then his wrist, RK watching him as he did. It made RK think of a physical calibration that an android would do if a limb was replaced, but he was startled away from that thought by his partner _screaming_.

Gavin had tried to stretch his arm out to the side, but was now cradling his arm back against his chest, nearly in tears and vomiting swears. RK was moving immediately, the bandages dropped as he attempted to right Gavin enough to replace the bandages. Gavin had his shoulders hunched as he breathed heavily. "Detective Reed, please calm down." He insisted, "Movement should not be this painful, you are overreacting." He managed to pin Gavin to the bed with more force than he'd intended to exert. Gavin was digging his fingers into his other arm as he clutched it to his chest. The nurse, having heard the scream, was standing behind RK, taking in the situation.

"You should listen to your android companion." The nurse chirped. RK was sitting in the edge of the bed, leaning across Reed's torso, their hips touching. The human stared, but RK didn't catch his eyes. RK stood and moved away to allow the nurse to assess what had happened. Gavin slowly relaxed, biting his bottom lip against the pain that spider-webbed across his body. The nurse peeled back the small bandage and frowned, "You've pulled your stitches." He concluded as he pulled the bandage away completely. Gavin glanced down to see the half inch perforation in his arm. RK noticed him pale drastically and look away as the nurse dropped a fresh piece of gauze on the wound. "I'll inform the doctor. Please stay as still as you can and don't touch the injury."

"I didn't take you for one to be squeamish." RK noted as he folded himself back onto the couch. Reed's lack of answer told him that he was in no mood to joke. "You're acting like a child, you know." He concluded, and Gavin glared at him.

"I hate hospitals. I just want to go home." His voice lacked the expected bite, and the android raised an eyebrow in curiosity as the nurse returned with a human doctor.

"Detective Reed, nice to meet you while you're coherent." The young woman offered. She looked about the same age as Gavin, and reached out to shake his hand. "For someone who wants to go home so badly, you sure didn't hesitate to further your injuries." She offered a cheeky smile, "I overheard on my way down the hall."

"You can call me Gavin." he replied, awkwardly shaking with his left hand.

"I'm gonna administer local anesthesia and re-stitch your arm." She sat her clipboard by his feet, "Then I'll make sure you get a real sling, and if you promise to be careful I won't make it have the strap that goes around your back." She was quite cheerful, tan skin with a long black ponytail that curled at the bottom. She put on gloves and disinfected a large space around the wound

"Thank you." Gavin flashed a small smile in relief.

"Thank you, in advance, for making my job easy. I assure you a few stitches is like taking a little vacation from my other patients." She explained as the nurse wheeled over a cart with assorted instruments on it She wasted no time in picking up a needle filled with a clear liquid, "This is gonna pinch, _a lot_. Try to relax." She told him sympathetically, looking closely at his arm. Gavin locked eyes with RK as she brought the injection to his bicep carefully; he clenched his jaw. As she depressed the syringe, she followed his gaze and smiled knowingly. "We're gonna give it ten or so minutes, and then you shouldn't feel anything."

The time passed and the doctor sewed his arm closed again before rebandaging it. As she helped him carefully get his way into the navy blue sling, she spoke again "Now, since you want to get out of here so badly I'm going to make sure that you get discharged first thing in the morning. You'll be the first person I see, Gavin, but you have to promise me that you're going to take these antibiotics, and not take off this sling until your doctor has told you that you can. I'll prescribe you hydocodone as needed for the pain, but you have to wait at least two hours after you take it to take your Ambien, if you need to." She explained, reading over his chart and making a few notes. "And do the physical therapy, because that's the only thing that will get you out of this faster and hopefully prevent another surgery for the nerve damage." She hung the chart at the foot of his bed and turned to RK, "And you, take care of your boyfriend. Do all the exercises with him, every day." Gavin tried to protest, but she smiled forgivingly and said her goodbyes.

"Not my boyfriend." He groaned after she left, fruitlessly.

"I doubt it matters to her." RK offered, standing, "Visiting hours end in twenty minutes. I should go."

"Yeah, well don't let the door hit you." Gavin mused, watching RK straighten his shirt. As the android made for the door, Gavin spoke again, "Wait. I need a favor." RK stopped and turned back to his partner, looking warily obliging. "Can you, uh, feed my cat?" Reed asked, nervous for some unnecessary reason.

"Of course. You won't be going home tonight." He tried for a smile, "I've never met a cat before."

"She's really sweet. Her name is Smidge. She's also very old." the human explained, smiling slightly, "You just have to empty a can of food into her bowl and fill the water."

"I can do that for you." RK nodded, reaching for the cabinet that had Reed's belongings in it. He took the lanyard with several keys dangling from it.

"The apartment key is the green one." Gavin noted, then paused, "And thank you." he concluded genuinely.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, then." RK smiled slowly and left.


End file.
